Born: 1977, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Pronouns: she/her
Identities: queer, woman
Nationality: Nigerian-American
Occupations: visual artist, sculptor, performance artist, activist

Summary
Adejoke Tugbiyele is a Nigerian-American interdisciplinary artist and human rights activist whose work spans sculpture, performance, drawing, installation, and video. Her creative practice is grounded in Yoruba spirituality, queer liberation, diasporic identity, and political resistance. Through deeply personal and culturally resonant works, Tugbiyele examines the complexities of gender, sexuality, and power within both African and diasporic contexts. Her work advocates for the visibility and humanity of LGBTQ+ Africans, while simultaneously reclaiming the sacredness of queer embodiment.

Early Life and Education
Tugbiyele was born in 1977 in Brooklyn, New York to Nigerian parents and spent parts of her childhood in Lagos before returning to the United States. This transcontinental upbringing shaped her bicultural perspective and plays a critical role in her work, which frequently explores tensions between tradition and modernity, homeland and diaspora. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and later completed her Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

Artistic Themes and Influences
Tugbiyele’s work is informed by Yoruba cosmology, postcolonial critique, Afro-futurism, and queer activism. She frequently uses raw natural materials such as raffia, copper wire, wood, and found objects, which she manipulates into powerful figurative sculptures. Her art incorporates ceremonial movement and performance to channel the body as a site of both resistance and transformation.

Her visual vocabulary draws on traditional African aesthetic forms and spiritual practices while also referencing global LGBTQ+ struggle. She has stated that her identity as a queer Nigerian woman informs every aspect of her work and that her art is a means of both personal healing and collective resistance.

Activism and Advocacy
In addition to her artistic practice, Tugbiyele has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, particularly in West Africa. She was formerly a board member of The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs), a Nigeria-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, and has worked with Human Rights Watch to spotlight abuses against LGBTQ+ individuals in Nigeria.

Her activism is integrated with her art. Works like Soulful Muse and Rising Above challenge the silence and persecution surrounding same-sex desire in Nigerian society, using beauty and embodiment as radical tools of dissent. Tugbiyele’s performances are often ritualistic and deeply intimate, calling attention to both ancestral presence and contemporary oppression.

Exhibitions and Recognition
Tugbiyele’s work has been featured in major exhibitions in the United States, Europe, and Africa. Her art has been shown at the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, the Bronx Museum, and 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Her work is held in several permanent collections, including the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Library.

She has been recognized for her cultural and political contributions to queer representation in African and diasporic art. Tugbiyele was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Nigeria and has participated in residencies at the Fountainhead Residency and Light Work.

Selected Works

• Human Hybrid (sculpture series)
• Soulful Muse (performance)
• Rising Above (installation and performance)
• Blind Faith (sculpture)
• A Prayer for Justice (mixed media work)

Personal Life
Tugbiyele lives and works between the United States and various locations in Africa. She continues to use her platform to speak on issues of religious and cultural repression, particularly as they affect queer communities. Her identity as both an artist and an activist remains inseparable, and her work is often described as a spiritual journey toward reclaiming ancestral queer presence.

“We are divine beings having a human experience. We must embrace all aspects of ourselves, including our queer selves, in order to be whole.”
– Adejoke Tugbiyele